Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois is complaining about the budget, but this is nothing new, this is par for the course.
The Bloc members complain about everything and anything. I am glad to hear the opposition leader say that they will be around for a long time, not that I welcome them here in the House, but that means Quebeckers will not accept their vision of Canada.
One thing I found very interesting is the Bloc Quebecois and the Parti Quebecois talk about the per capita equalization. I find that strangely ironic because I guess some deal was cooked up with the previous Conservative government, the Quebec government and other governments. It is fine to have nice little cosy deals, but when they are not fair, that is when we speak up. What we have here is a per capita equalization on the CHST that is fair.
What the hon. member forgets to mention is the equalization.
Thanks to the new equalization formula calculated over a five-year period, the have-not provinces will get $5 billion more in the next five years than they did in the last five.
Sadly, Quebec is one of those less prosperous provinces. Why is it less prosperous? Because of the policies and politics of the Bloc Quebecois and the Parti Quebecois.
If we look at the equalization payments, Quebec received in 1997-98 $4.2 billion, and in 1998-99 $4 billion. That is about half of all equalization. In fact it will allow the province of Quebec to balance its budget.
The member conveniently forgets the equalization. He conveniently forgets the fairness of the per capita CHST.